U.S. crude, fuel stocks fall, imports down-EIA

NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. crude and refined product inventories fell last week on lower imports, government data from the Energy Information Administration showed on Wednesday.

Crude inventories dropped by 1.31 million barrels in the week to March 15, compared with analysts’ expectations of a rise of 2 million barrels. The fall came as crude imports decreased by 219,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 7.27 million bpd.

The draw in crude stocks was the first in nine weeks, according to EIA data.